March Storm

The week started off in its usual fashion with a Monday full of work and a planned rest day on the running front. Then on Tuesday, I simply did not manage my time or energy well enough to get in a run but finally managed to at least get out the door at 4:30 pm for a walk around the school block. Nice afternoon if breezy. (2.0 miles walked)

Finally a run on Wednesday 😆😆Got up and out at 6:30 am and ran roads across the river, but it was a muted, overcast morning without a color sunrise. (7.0 miles)

Woke to a solid dusting of snow on the ground on Thursday morning. Dropped Sam off at school and then headed out on the cart paths for a run before heading into work. Cold, bright and blustery. Brrr! Fine with just regular trail shoes. (6.0 miles)

By Friday, all the snow had melted, but the wind remained and it was quite chilly when I headed out onto the powerlines at 8:30 am. Also very uneven underfoot with the sand and mud thawing and refreezing. (10.0 miles)

Looking like a storm coming in on Saturday, so I decided to take advantage of the nice afternoon and got in a short walk around the school block before dinner on Friday. (1.8 miles walked)

Woke to snow and mixed precipitation on Saturday morning and was very glad I hadn’t unscrewed the screw shoes yet! Headed across the street into the snow and wind for a road on Highland Green Road around 7:45 am. Fine footing with the screws on the plowed pavement, with the back road untouched with a few inches of snow. Cold and a bit of snow pelt in the face. I could do without but oh well, it was too good to think winter was over! Then it was off into Brunswick with a very messy drive to our board retreat. (6.0 miles)

Sam went to a friend's house and we did venture over to Mom and Dad's for dinner, during which the rain and ice started. Later in the night, our power flickered but we were very lucky to not lose power here at home, especially seeing how things looked when heading outside to clean off the car and seeing how many people woke up to no power. Very pretty but very messy and such thick ice! Even days later, power was not yet restored everywhere. Definitely a rough March storm here on the coast!

Ryan headed over to NH to ski for the day on Sunday morning - the notch received 2 feet of snow, so it was pretty sweet, I think! Here at home, I waited for the lot to be cleared, some melt to start occuring as the temps warmed and until I'd eaten lunch before finally donning my shoes and heading out for a run around 2:00 pm. It was a late afternoon, post-storm meander on the mostly clear paved roads through Highland Green and a bit on the trails down to the river, along the powerlines and on the back road. Trail and back road portions consisted of a lot of sinking through the top icy crust. Not ideal but oh well. I was glad to at least be able to get out after the storm, even if it wasn't the long run I was planned. With the ice shimmering in the sunlight, it was quite pretty, but also what a mess! (6.1 miles)

MishMash

A bit of a mishmash this week. Winter sports night, a dance, sun, rain, trails, roads, skiing, we've got it all! 😉

Monday night was the Mt. Ararat Winter Sports Awards evening. It was nice to see all the kids recognized, but man, the majority of the coaches could have tightened their speeches up a while lot. Aie. 

With the time change, it is back to darkness in the early morning again. So chose to run the cart paths after dropping Sam at school and before going into work. How is it possible it was windy in all directions?!? 💨💨Bright and sunny above and semi-frozen underfoot. (6.0 miles)

Wednesday, I worked from home and didn't manage to get out the door until just before 1:00 pm. Ran the powerlines. Bright, warm and a bit windy. Also very very soft underfoot. Skunk cabbage emerging and two mourning cloak butterflies flitting about in the sunlight. (7.0 miles)

Beautiful day on Thursday, and after finishing work, I did the grocery shopping and then headed home to take a walk. Decided I'd combine a few more errands and the walk, and headed to the library and the dump to drop off the recycling. Ryan joined me, and we got in a nice walk on the Gone Fishing trails before we headed home. (2.76 miles walked)

Rain started overnight and through lunchtime on Friday. I had to do some work anyway, so sat at the computer for a few hours, got a few errands done and then after lunch and a bit of sitting on the couch, I finally pulled myself up and got out the door around 2:00 pm. Ran down to the river and back. Soggy, misty, damp, dreary. Water water everywhere. (7.0 miles)

Ryan headed over to NH Friday afternoon as he, Kendra and Michael were planning to ski at Sunapee on Saturday morning to close out the ski season. So of course, Sam and I decided on ice cream for dinner 😂😂

That decision might have come back to haunt me during Saturday morning's run, as I felt decidedly unenergetic and sluggish. Maybe som real food for dinner might have been a good idea... Oops! But a cool, crisp, bright, calm morning to be out tromping in the woods nonetheless. Headed out around 7:45 am. Pavement was a bit slick in the shade as were all the bog bridges, and all the mud was semi-frozen in the woods. Misty fog rising above the roaring river, and birds calling overhead. (10.0 miles)

Later in the day, after dropping Sam and Rohan off at Lauren's to hang out and get ready for the evening's dance. It was so nice out, I figured I might as well enjoy the afternoon and stopped to take a walk at Skofield Shore. Trails were a bit squishy and sloppy but always good to get down to the ocean, and I do love the views. (1.47 miles walked)

Ryan got home around 6:15 and we ate noodles and relaxed on the couch for the evening while the girls had fun getting ready together and dancing the evening away 😍😎

😆😊

After a beautiful day on Saturday, the rain came back overnight. I really need to stop with the afternoon ‘long’ runs here 🤦🏼‍♀️ but this rainy windy weather we’ve been having is not doing wonders for my desire to get out there. Didn't head out until 2:00 pm once the skies started to clear. Trails were a bit sloppy but stayed mostly out of the wind at least. Two bluebirds flitting about out on the the Powerlines but otherwise quiet. Ran into Ryan around mile 9 and joined him to get a few extra miles, which was much appreciated as I was definitely lagging a bit and having company made the miles go by much easier! Bright beautiful sunshine as we passed by the Heath, and then we got poured on in the final half mile 😂 (12.25 miles)

Soggy

This week was the last week of swim practice. What are we going to do with all our free time next week?! 

Monday was a beautiful day but I had a full day at work with meeting upon meeting, so while it would have been nice to take advantage of the weather, alas, I did not manage to make it happen. 

Tuesday, I did not get out for a morning run and while I technically had time during afternoon swim practice, it was cold, rainy and windy. I settled for a walk around the indoor track and getting more work done instead. (2.1 miles walked)

Wednesday, I was working from home so after dropping Sam off for late start, I headed across the street and ran the cart paths. Soft and squishy ground underfoot and very damp out overall. (6.0 miles)

Then later in the evening after swim practice, we headed down to Harpswell for the end of the season swim dinner. It was so nice to have all the kids be personally recognized not only for their accomplishments in the pool, but as people too. The coaches and the entire team are truly the best, and we are so glad that Sam was a part of the team this year! It truly has been a great experience.💖

I was really wishing I had run on Monday or Tuesday when I woke up to yet another cold, windy, rainy day on Thursday. Sigh. Had a late afternoon meeting, so took a little extra time in the morning after dropping Sam at school and squeezed in an out and back on the pavement of Highland Green Road. There was nothing good about the weather. 💨🌧️☔️ Blergh. Did see an eagle soaring overhead though. (6.0 miles)

Finally sunny again on Friday, but also breezy. Got the grocery shopping and my errands done around town after dropping Sam off at school and then around 10:30, took a chance and decided to head out on the powerlines. Very squishy, wet, muddy, semi-frozen, and slightly energy-sucking underfoot. One wooly bear and a few very early skunk cabbage emerging. (9.0 miles)

Then after lunch and a bit of time to relax, it was off to pick up Sam and my parents and head north to Colby for the Y States meet, the final meet of the season! The sports facility up there is seriousy impressive, and they put on a good meet. Sam swam great, with PRs in all three of her events and a very solid 500 free PR at the end of the night. It is so fun to see her hard work paying off. And to see her in a tech suit too! 😎(Although we did not pay the $600 for a true tech suit, but the kneeskin suit seemed to work perfectly well for a quarter the price!)  It was Friday night lights, swim style! 🏊🏊

🔥🔥

Saturday morning, Emily came up here to join us for a run. It was great to catch up and obviously, no fun was had 😆😆Very mucky, squishy, flooded and muddy out there. Some bushwacking was involved. The river was flowing - so much water! (6.75 miles)

Sam was picked up at noon for a birthday celebration for Lauren involving a trip to the mall and a sleepover, so the house was quiet in the afteroon. After eating lunch and getting a few things done around the house, I headed across the street for walk #2 of the week. A bit dreary out, but always good to move a bit. (1.7 miles walked)

Then it was back to the couch to read and relax before we headed into town to Nomad for a yummy dinner of wood-fired pizza. Delish!

Spring ahead overnight, and woke this morning to whipping winds, dark skies and a whole lot of rain. Ugh! Spent the morning inside at the computer, cleaning, doing laundry, reading and most definitely putting off the run 😂😂😂 The rain stopped as I was driving down to Harpswell to pick Sam up after her sleepover, so once I got back and did a bit of stretching and rolling, I headed out for my run. Overcast, still windy, and still a whole lot of water everywhere, although mostly avoidable on the sidewalks and roads. Ran down to the river through Mom and Dad's neighborhood and then across the bridge and back through the Topsham streets. Stomach was not feeling great, so just took it easy and was glad to get the miles. The mileage this year has not been super impressive, but the graph is starting to look decent with six weeks in a row right at 40 miles. Hoping to add in a few miles these next few weeks but for now, happy to be back to the consistency after January's Covid dip. (12.25 miles)

Wrapped up the weekend with a fun hibachi dinner at Kume with Mom and Dad to celebrate the end of Sam's two successful and fun swim seasons! 😊😊